Lady Bears top Salukis

Three of the best snipers in the Missouri Valley from beyond the arc were on the floor at JQH Arena on Friday night. Two of them were wearing away jerseys.

The other, sporting pink in support of Play 4 Kay night, was Liza Fruendt.

Fruendt splashed three from long range and scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Lady Bears to a 73-59 victory over Southern Illinois. Missouri State improved to 12-10 overall and 8-3 in the Valley and remains two games in front of Wichita State for third place in the conference.

Southern Illinois entered play with the conference’s top 3-point shooting percentage, and guards Rishonda Napier and Kylie Giebelhausen were ranked No. 1-2 in field goals made from downtown. The pair combined for 36 of the Salukis’ 57 attempts from the field.

Lady Bears head coach Kellie Harper knew they would present a challenge.

“That’s a hard team to guard, and to hold them to under 60 points is a really good night defensively,” said Harper. “We had some pretty good moments out there, had a pretty good week of practice, and I was glad to see it carry over.”

Missouri State gave the Salukis a dose of their own medicine in the third quarter. Lexi Hughes knocked down two from long range, and Alexa Willard, Shameka Ealy and Lee Ann Polowy also hit from deep as the Lady Bears went a perfect 5-5 from 3-point land. The outburst opened up a commanding 57-43 lead after three quarters.

“I thought we shared the ball well, thought we took good shots, especially in the second half. I think everybody was feeling confident and feeling good about what we were doing offensively,” said Harper.

The Salukis kept pace with the Lady Bears early and trailed by one after the first quarter. Then Missouri State used a 14-4 run in the second period to take a 10-point lead into intermission. Fruendt scored 13 first-half points and was the only scorer in double figures at the break.

“I thought (Fruendt) played really well. She shot a good percentage. I thought she was under control, yet aggressive, and it made her hard to guard,” said Harper.

Hughes scored 14 points and added four assists. Willard also reached double figures with 11 points and six rebounds. Missouri State shot a red-hot 47 percent from the floor.

The Lady Bears wore pink uniforms in honor of Play 4 Kay night that supports the fight against women’s cancers. Fruendt acknowledged the team drew inspiration from the cancer survivors seated courtside.

“It’s a bigger cause than just playing basketball,” said Fruendt. “I think it helped to have those women that struggled and survived, sitting courtside and just happy to be there. It’s phenomenal.”

The Lady Bears have a quick turnaround as a hungry Evansville team visits JQH Arena on Sunday night at 7:05 p.m. The Purple Aces gave Wichita State all they could handle on Friday night, losing a heartbreaker 69-68 in Wichita.

“I think a few of us look at (the conference standings) every day,” said Hughes, one of three seniors on the team. “You have to take it one step at a time, but you also know where you need to be and how to get there.”